Rockman Zero: Return of the Crimson MaidenREVAMPED
by RetardedFool
Summary: A forgotten legend was forced to awake after a century of slumber. Will it be blessed salvation, or a cursed destruction? A revamped version of the story with the same name. May update based on reception.
1. Awakening

Alright, this is Rockman Zero, inspired by S Prime's work "The Crimson Maiden". However, there's a little twist. Not only Zero, but X and the four guardians are created as girls too. This may be interesting. Also, none of this characters belong to me. They belong to Inti Creates. So don't go suing me. But the plot may turn out slightly different from the game itself.

Welp, this is the revamp version. Hope you enjoy some of the changes.

* * *

A few terms explained for those who are not familiar with Rockman Zero's universe.

_**Reploids**_: A breed of androids that are able to think and feel by themselves, like humans do, which also opened the possibility of reploids rebelling against the humans. The name reploid comes from the combination of the words replica and android, and the fact that they were created when a human scientist, Dr. Cain, who tried to replicate the first android with emotions, named X, whom he had found on an old archeological site. Unable to do it properly, Dr. Cain opted for an alternate form of androids, later known as reploids or "imperfects". They are often built with a fixed purpose or theme in mind, and they come in the most diverse of kinds. Mythos reploids are reploids created by Neo Arcadia to protect humans, their designs are based on mythological beings.

_**Mechaniloids**_: Machine-like robot that was created with a very special task in mind. Their purpose is usually to handle menial tasks for the humans, such as repairs, construction and many other tasks. The mechaniloids, unlike the reploids, are unable to think for itself and can also be reprogrammed easily. Golems are mechaniloids specifically used for warfare and security means.

_**Cyber elves**_: Each Cyber-elf is a sentient computer program created with pure energy and made in a physical image of an elf. As Cyber elves get stronger, they become more human in appearance, while looking like small blobs while weak. There are three categories of Cyber elves: Nurse, Animal, and Hacker. Cyber elves were created during the last years of the Maverick Wars, and designed to combat against the Maverick Virus, that turned reploids to anti-human Mavericks. The use of Cyber elves ended the war in four years but at the cost of wiping out approximately 90% of the reploids and 60% of the humans.

_**Mavericks**_: Or irregulars as some call them, are reploids or mechaniloids whose flaws has been exploited, which makes them no longer able to think rationally and occasionally displays a very violent behavior. Though, there have been several cases when a reploid went maverick as a conscious choice or because of political divergence with the current government.

_**Resistance**_: A group of reploids labelled as Mavericks by Neo Arcadia. Although they oppose Neo Arcadia and its government, they mean no harm to anyone, and fight only to defend themselves and those facing oppression. In fact, the leader seeks to end this fightings through more peaceful means.

_**Neo Arcadia**_: Considered an utopia, Neo Arcadia is the metropolis that govern the residents, reploids and human, that live in the city. Created a century ago by X, a legendary reploid, Neo Arcadia was ruled by herself, the Four Guardians, and the Eight Gentle Judges.

_**The Four Guardians (Shitennou)**_: Consist of four elite reploids, commanders of Neo Arcadia's army forces. Kenshou "Sage" Harpuia, commander of Rekku Army, Neo Arcadia's military air forces. Inshou "Hidden" Phantom, commander of Zan'ei Army, Neo Arcadia's stealth squadron units. Youshou "Fairy" Leviathan, commander of Meikai Army, Neo Arcadia's military navy. And lastly, Toushou "Fighting" Fefnir, commander of Jin'en Army, Neo Arcadia's land troops.

There will be a little twist, or deviation, whatever you call it, from the original plot of the game's storyline, this being Zero, X, and the Shitennou's change in gender and combat skills(their elements remain unchanged). The plot here will go according to the sequence of the missions I play, along with changes made in the storyline. Well then, I hope you will enjoy this.

* * *

_**Chapter 1**_

_**Awakening**_

Neo Arcadia, a metropolis governing the humans and reploids that live peacefully in it. An utopia, considered by its residents, to those who are able to accept both reploids and human living together. Neo arcadia is ruled by X, the legendary reploid, the female saviour, who risked her life during the Maverick Wars, and had saved the lives of over a billion of people, humans and reploids alike. X, the saviour, was considered the angel who descended from heaven to save the world.

However, there was another legendary reploid, another reploid fighter. Legend had it said that this particular reploid assisted X during the war, helping her whenever the heroine had troubles by herself. Sadly, no record was written for this reploid. No pictures, no videos, even this particular reploid's name had escaped many. And thus the reploid's legend was hidden, buried in some place where no one knew, nor found out, and was put to sleep for eternity. Or so it should be...

_**Beneath the city of Neo Arcadia...**_

The forest was peaceful, with several different primitive creatures lounging around, looking nothing more than bored and lazy. Suddenly, several gunshots echoed among the trees, sending the animals scurrying for quick covers. Almost right after the animals were safe in their hideouts, a group of soldiers in green uniforms burst out from a tall bush and started running quickly, followed by a young blond-haired girl dressed in pink, supported by two of the soldiers. Her appearance and age made her stand out from the group of trained soldiers.

Seconds later, a larger group of blue, one-eyed, and armed reploids appeared from the bushes, firing their arm cannons and pursuing the former group.

"Quick!" One of the soldier at the back of the group yelled to his comrades in front. "They are catchi-Gargh!" His words were cut off by a blast which tore through his chest, shattering his torso into pieces.

"No!" The girl turned back and stifled a screamed at the sight.

"Shit! Ciel! This way!" The soldiers made a sharp turn around a thick trunk of a tree and continued running with their full speed. "Don't stop, Ciel, keep going!" One of the soldiers turned the girl around and they followed the rest through the thick forest.

"B-But Milan!" The girl, Ciel, started to tear up at the corners of her eyes.

"We have to get you back to safety." Milan said as he ushered her. "We can't risk having you injured, or worse, dead in this mission!"

A sudden rumble of the ground caused everyone to stumble onto their knees. "What the hell is that?" Some of the soldiers cursed as they tried to get up as fast as they can. Ciel leaned on her elbows and tried to push herself up. She heard a low rumbling behind her and turned to see a large mechaniloid looming over her body, the laser cannon at its mouth charged up and ready. Ciel could only stare with dreaded fear as the laser hit the ground and began to approach her rapidly.

"Watch out!" One of the soldiers pushed Ciel aside. However, he himself did not escape fast enough and stumbled. Soon, the beam caught up with him and he was disintegrated into molten ash along with other unfortunate ones caught in the blast.

"Come on Ciel!" Milan quickly went over to Ciel and picked her up. "We have to get moving."

"M-Milan!"

"Come on!" The remaining soldiers started running with Ciel. The mechaniloids picked up several movements ahead within their sensors and made their way towards them, attempting to stop, or destroy the group.

* * *

"Hah...hah...hah..." Ciel slowed down to a stop in front of an oddly decorated wall, panting from after the seemingly never-ending running. "This...a dead end?" She asked after settling her breathing.

"No." A cyber-elf, which had flew alongside Ciel all the time, spoke up. "I feel something...a strong energy signal ahead, just beyond this door." The small cybernetic creature flew towards the wall, which turned out to be a gate of some sort. "This must be the place."

"Don't tell me..." Ciel approached the wall, when a control panel suddenly appeared from the side corner of it. "Is this where the legendary ruin is located? Is this...our only hope?"

"_Go away!"_

"Eh? What?" Ciel looked around, searching for the source of the voice. "I heard someone's voice."

"_Who are you? Why are you disturbing my sleep? What are you planning?"_

"Who is it?" Ciel asked, continuing looking around for the speaker.

"_Don't...Please...don't bother me...don't...don't get involved with me..."_

"Who...Who's talking to me?" Ciel turned towards the door, after realising that the voice seemed to echo from it.

"_Please, I beg of you, whoever you are. Please let me sleep, for eternity."_

"Ciel?" Milan patted her shoulder, snapping her back to reality. "What wrong?"

"Ah. No...nothing at all." Ciel shook her head a little. "Let's keep going." She went towards the control panel and started typing on it. "Not good." She continued typing on it, trying to find a way to unlock the gate. "Most of the data here are corrupted. There's no way to open the door with the codes."

"There can be only one way. Leave this to me" Milan said as he walked towards the door and pasted packs of explosives on it. "Stay back, Ciel." The rest of the soldiers brought Ciel back a distance and prepared to shield her from the explosion.

Milan finished up with positioning the explosives and jogged back towards them. He nodded towards them and they covered Ciel securely as Milan jammed his thumb onto a button. The explosives beeped for a few seconds before taking the large gate apart with a huge explosion. _**Zero! Save us!**_ Ciel thought desperately as she held onto her hair to keep them from flying wildly. _**Please...Save us!**_

The dust settled, revealing the torn gate and darkness beyond it. Suddenly, shuffling of running feet was heard, approaching them. "Damn! The explosion caught their attention." One of the remaining soldiers said. "You should go." He turned to Milan and Ciel. "We'll take care of them." The soldiers aimed at the bushes and started firing, expectedly receiving return fires from the enemies.

Ciel, Milan, and the cyber-elf entered the door. Instantly, lights switched on with several echoing clicks to reveal a large, worn down room inside, and a humanoid figure kneeling at the middle of it. Ciel noticed that dozens of cables, connected from the ceiling of the room, were attached onto the back of this figure, whose hands were tied to the back. Milan approached the figure slowly to have a closer look at it. What he found out made him gasp out in shock. "This...this must be..." Ciel close in to have a clearer look as well.

* * *

The figure was clad with red vambraces at the forearms, armoured breastplate lined with gold wrapped the upper torso, greaves on the shins and calves of the leg, just covering the shin-high boots. The helmet was topped with red arrow-shaped fins, joined together at the front tip of it, where slightly above rested a dust covered, due to a very long time of stillness, turquoise gem, and lastly was two white sharp eclipses on either side of the head, over the position of the ears. Blond locks lighter than Ciel's draped over the shoulders of the figure, as uneven fringe shrouded the eyes in shadow.

The whole helmet looked worn, peppered with cracks and various areas chipped off. The figure seemed to wear a crimson sleeveless vest, coupled with somewhat a mixture of a skirt and a waist cape, hiding a grey tight-fit shorts beneath. The base of the figure's helmet, the area from the doll-like joints of the shoulders to the elbows, and the thighs to the knees were covered by a thin layer of black skin-like casting, topped with ceramic coloured platings. The lower torso from the bottom of the vest to the top of her hips was dressed in green under-shirt, tucked into a chrome belt which hugged her waist and held her skirt in place.

The feature of the face and the curves of the body revealed the figure to be a young woman sleeping peacefully, despite being in a very uncomfortable position. _"She's like a doll, a porcelain doll." _Milan added in his mind.

"This...this must be Zero." Ciel muttered softly.

"We've found him...I mean, _her _at last. Can't believe that Zero is actually a she." Milan reached for the figure, getting a huge shock from an invisible barrier. "Ow! Damn!"

"It's protected by a cyber barrier." The cyber-elf piped in.

"What should we do?" Milan flicked his hand around to ease the pain. "The barrier is strong enough to prevent everything from breaking in."

"Or something from breaking out." Ciel added softly.

"Uwargh!" A pained scream made them turn their heads towards the door, one to see the last of their comrades fell onto the ground, torn and mangled. Seconds after the body touch the ground, several shots were heard followed by a torrent of bullets flying towards them.

"Watch out!" Milan jumped forward and shielded Ciel from the bullets, one of the bolts chipping his shoulder. "Ugh! We're cornered, we have to evacuate!"

"But...but..."

"We have no time to argue over this!" A bullet tore through his dark green armour. "Argh!" He flew back and landed beside Ciel heavily.

"Milan!" Ciel rushed to his side, frozen stiff when she realised the last of the soldiers protecting her was already nearing his death.

"Ci...el..." The dying veteran soldier's trembling hand slowly reach reached for the girl's cheek and wiped a dripping tear away.

"Don't force yourself, Milan." Ciel wasted to search into her waist pouch for recovery energy crystals. That was, until a hand fell onto her and gripped it tightly. Ciel looked back to Milan in shock to see him smiling to her.

"Don't...waste it..." Milan muttered in between his grimace. "I...know...I'm alrea...dy damaged...beyond repair."

"But...But Milan!"

"Wipe...your tears." Milan continued, forcing a smile in hope to calm the girl. "They don't...suit...your cute face." He then turned his wavering gaze to face the ceiling. "Passy. You...there?"

"Sir." The cyber-elf beside Ciel hovered to the other side of Milan, opposite of Ciel. "You called, sir?"

"My job...ends here..." The soldier grimaced as sparks burned through his power reactor. "Do what you can...to protect Ciel, 'kay?"

"Ro...roger that, sir." The tiny mass of data saluted, tears already flowing from the edges of her eyes. "I will do what I can."

"Passy?" Ciel turned to stare at the cyber-elf in shock. "Passy, what are you going to do?"

"You have to use my power. My power which can wake her up." The small creature said. Slowly, the cyber-elf began to glow brighter. "You have no other choice!"

"What?!" Ciel stood up. "Passy, if I do that, you will..."_**Die!**_

Just then, the reploids had already charged through the broken door, and were closing onto the two, their arm cannons aimed and ready to shoot.

"You bastards are...not getting pass me!" Milan growled as he forced himself to sit up. He painfully aimed his assault rifle at the enemies. "Passy! Do it!" He roared as fired several shot at the wave of reploids, followed by a grenade tossed at the place within the group. The detonation took the rest out, effectively blocking the passageway it the debris.

"Ciel, don't worry about me." The cyber-elf smiled softly at Ciel, its power reaching it maximum. It flew into Ciel chest and hugged the girl. "You have to live on." It turned towards the figure they found, protected by the barrier, its expression determined.

"Passy...no..." Ciel's voice was drowned by the sound of power surging from the small elf.

"Remember, Ciel." The cyber-elf shot towards the figure as fast as it could. "Everyone is waiting for you safe return."

"Passy!" Ciel could only watch and scream as the small creature charged full speed towards the invisible barrier. _**Thank you Ciel, for all these times. **_ The elf thought as it slammed into the cyber barrier, sacrificing itself to break it. _**And...Farewell...**_

Those were the last thing that went through the cyber-elf's mind as it burst into millions of glitters, having used up the power of its entire being. Ciel could only watch in shock as she watched her friend disappear out of existence.

"Passy..." Tears began flowing out of Ciel's eyes. "Passy..." She sobbed, trying to keep herself from crying.

At first, nothing happened. Then, cracks began to fill the space surrounding the unmoved figure. At the same time, the air was filled with the sound of glass cracking. Ciel and Milan watched as the cracks stopped expanding, soon followed by the barrier exploding outwards.

Ciel screamed in fright as the force of the explosion threw her backwards. She had expected to fall on the hard floor and injure herself, but someone caught her in their arms and she heard a grunt of pain as the two of them landed on the ground. Slowly, she creaked an eye open and looked up to see that Milan had shifted from his position to catch her, thus cushioning her fall with his already damaged body.

The two of them then turned to the still figure expectantly, hoping that some miracle would happen. However, the figure remained still. Not a single movement was made from the supposedly legendary reploid.

"It...It can't be." Milan muttered as his reactor sparked from overload. The reploid collapsed onto the floor face-up, his power draining fast. "Don't...don't tell me...Passy...sacrificed herself...for nothing..."

"No..." Ciel fell to her knees, despair filled her eyes as the outcome was not even close to what they expected. "No..."

"Damn it!" Fizzle statics began to form in Milan's vision, signal the beginning of his permanent shutdown. "Damn it to hell!" He cursed loudly, the sparks eating at his power reactor caused his to twitch and cough few time. "I beg you...please. Please...wake up! Ciel! Go to her and physically wake her up!"

"But...Milan."

"I don't care how you do it! Go to her and do whatever it take to wake her up!" Milan shouted, despite protest from his failing system. "Slap her awake if you have to!"

Ciel could only slowly stand up and walk to the slumbering reploid. She was prepared to pull the the cables off the reploid's back. But all she did was to touch the reploid before hologramic screens began popping out around them, a low humming of the super computer starting up echoed throughout the room.

**Activation confirmed. **A monotonous mechanic female voice echoed throughout the room. Ciel and Milan looked around in shock, trying to locate the source of the voice.

**Main energy reactor – Start up**

**General optical system - Clear.**

**Internal frame functionality system - All green**

**External frame functionality system - All green**

**Auto-repair nanomachine system - All green**

**Combat capability - Maximum amplitude**

**Main system - Start up!**

Ciel jumped back in shock as the cables detached from the back of the reploid with a loud hiss. Soon the the cuffs restraining the reploid's arms popped off with a click, dropping her hands to her sides. Lastly, the gem on the reploid's head glowed from turquoise to green then to blue. Seconds later, the reploid's eyes began to flutter open.

"Zero..." Ciel muttered as the figure stood up completely, bits and pieces of wires, cables, and chunks of dust falling from the body. "...has resurrected..." Her words caught the attention of the reploid.

"You..." The female reploid started, before tilting her head a little, confusion marring her expression. "Who are you?"

* * *

And here it is, the first chapter. Like it? Hate it? Do a constructive review. I welcome all of them. XD

_**Preview:**_

"Hurry!..._**ZZZ**_...you..._**ZZZ**_...have..._**ZZZ**_...to..._**ZZZ**_...save her..._**ZZZ**_...don't waste..._**ZZZ**_...time!"


	2. The Crimson Maiden

Previously:

**Main energy reactor start up.**

**General optical system: Clear...**

**Internal frame functionality system: All green...**

**External frame functionality system: All green...**

**Auto-repair nanomachine system: All green...**

**Combat capability: Maximum amplitude...**

**Main system: Start...up!**

"Zero...has resurrected..."

* * *

_**Chapter 2**_

_**The Crimson Maiden**_

The reploid remained sitting at the position she was at, staring curiously at Ciel and repeated her question. "Who are you?" Her expression remained in a childish curiosity.

"E-Eh?" Ciel struggled to calm her flustering self. "I-I'm Ciel. You're Zero, right?"

"Zero?" The reploid placed a finger on her chin and tilted her head a little, her eyes scrunching a little from thinking. "Hmm. Not a bad name. I guess I'll take it for the time being."

"E-Eh?"

"H-Hah?" Even Milan was comically shocked from the uncharacteristic personality of the supposed legend. His choked words caught the girl reploid's attention as she turn to him and gasped.

"Oh no." The reploid quickly rushed to Milan, kneeling beside him. "You're hurt, sir!" She quickly fumbled around the nearest console to her right, managing to find an energy crystal. "Don't talk too much." She was about to place the energy crystal on Milan's mouth when a trembling hand on hers stopped her on track.

"You have a kind soul." Zero turned to see Milan smiling at her. "I now believe that you are the Zero we've been looking for..." He paused a little as a spark in his system caused him to twitch. "I have a favour...to ask of...you..."

""Milan!/Sir!"" Both Ciel and Zero called to him at the same time.

"Please..." Milan pulled his side-arm from his left along with its holster, a customised buster shotgun that was designed to be slightly larger than a handgun. Easily accessible, similar effective range to that of an assault rifle and had decent firepower, though low in ammunition capacity. "Please bring Ciel back...safely..." He pushed the weapon into Zero's hand. "Please..."

"Milan..." Ciel stifled her sobbing with her hand as tears flowed from the corners of her eyes.

"Consider it done, sir." Zero gripped the weapon and carefully strapped the holster around her waist, crossing diagonally just above her own belt. "In your honour, may I have your name, sir?"

"Heh..." Milan smiled at the amount of respect from how the reploid addressed him. "Just call me...Milan..." His eyes slowly lost their colour and turned pitch black, an abrupt stop of the low hum signalling the complete shutdown of his system.

"Your name shall forever be in my memory bank, Milan." Zero closed here eyes and muttered a small prayer. "For this brave soldier who gave his life to protect another."

"Zero..." Ciel looked up to the reploid at the words.

"Your name is Ciel, right?" Zero turned to face the scientist, a slight warm smile on her lips. "Let's get you home." She reached a hand out for Ciel.

"O-Oh..." Ciel rubbed her eyes with both her sleeves and held onto Zero's hand, pulling herself up from the sitting position. "Milan..." She turned to the rigid body on the ground, her eyes tearing up again as she gave a waist-deep bow. "Thank you...very much..." She mumbled under her breath. "And...I'm...sorry..." Her tears began to drip from her eyes to the ground before her.

"It's alright." Ciel jolted in surprise when she felt a hand on her head, stroking it softly. She looked up to see Zero still smiling warmly at her. "He forgives you, so you have to make it back alive."

"Right." Ciel straightened herself and wiped her eyes for the second time. "I have to be strong." She turned to Zero, determination evident in her eyes. "Let's go."

Zero grinned and held onto Ciel's hand, leading the scientist through the other door of the room.

* * *

The door that had led the two further into the building structure turned out to be deeper than expected. Ciel reasoned to herself after an hour of walking that this was more of a labyrinth than the interior of a building. Everything around her seemed so old and worn out that even the wall could fall from a breath's touch.

"Erm...Zero?" Ciel called out to the reploid who was walking in front of her. "Where are we going exactly?"

"Where, you say?" Zero glanced back over her shoulder, her expression sheepish. "I don't really have an idea. I'm just walking around randomly, hoping to find the other exit." Her sheepish laugh mirroring her expression.

"T-That's...hah..." Ciel sighed to herself. The reploid in front of her, who was supposed to bear the name of the legendary _Zero_, turned out to be an air-headed carefree reploid girl, completely opposite of what she had expected. "So you have no idea where we are right now?"

"Not a single clue." Zero replied as she stopped, facing the wall before her. "And...yeah. We hit a dead-end." She scratched the back of her helmeted head.

"You've got to be kidding me." Ciel drooped her head with a deep sigh. She then walked pass the reploid to examine the wall. "No keypads around. This really is a dead-end."

"Well, we can always backtrack." Zero gave a slight shrug before something clicked in her. She turned to the scientist and notice a crack growing beneath the girl's feet. "Ciel! Watch out!"

"Eh? Eh?" Ciel blinked in surprised as the reploid dash-charged at her and looped an arm around her waist. "Wha-?" Just then, the floor caved in, dropping the both of them into the abyss beneath along with Ciel panicked scream.

The fall may not be very far, for if Zero was falling alone. But she was not taking any chance with Ciel, a human, in her care. Reaction kicked in as Zero activated the booster in the soles of her boots, pushing herself onto one of the falling rubble. She then kicked off the boulder and jumped, using the other falling debris as stepping platforms towards the wall. At the last platform, Zero ignited her boosters to extend her jump towards the wall, grabbing onto the surface and digging into the concrete with her free hand and boots.

The combined weight of a reploid and a human, coupled with the inertia of the fall, caused Zero to drag a lined crack down the surface of the wall. After than seemed to be an eternity, the descend slowed down and came to a stop. Ciel slowly creaked an eye open, gasping to see that they were no more than ten feet from the water beneath them, her feet dangling helplessly in the air.

"That was close." Zero exhaled a sigh of relief. "Are you alright, Ciel?" She asked as she turned her head to face the scientist in her arm.

"Y-Yes." Ciel took in a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "Thank you, Zero." She looked around and discovered a passageway at the bottom of the pit where they fell, leading further into the darkness. "I see something there." She pointed it out for the reploid.

"Oh? Guess we're not lost after all." The cheeky reploid grinned a childish smile. "Hold on tight."

"Eh? What? EHH?!" Ciel could only scream as Zero kicked off the wall and started running diagonally downwards along the concave surface. Distracted with her own screaming, Ciel did not notice that Zero had shifted her from being wrapped at the waist in one arm to being carried bridal-style.

At the last moment before they reached the water, Zero kicked off the wall again, this time igniting her booster to extend her jump towards the passageway. The jump barely made it as Zero almost tripped at the edge and stumbled forward, finally stabling herself after several steps. "That was too close."

"That...that took years off my life!" Ciel cried, tears began to pool at the edges of her eyes. "Please don't ever do that again!" She began to hammer her fists on Zero's chest.

"Ah. Ow. Hahaha. Sorry. I'm sorry." Zero only laughed it off cheekily. "I'm sorry, alright?"

"Put me down then." Ciel huffed and crossed her arms. "I can walk by myself."

"As you wish, milady." The reploid slowly set the scientist down on her feet, only for Ciel to wobble a little before falling on her rear."Whoa! Ciel?" Zero quickly reach out to hold Ciel's shoulder, preventing her from falling over and hitting her head.

"Ah." Ciel blushed hard in embarrassment as she tried to stand up, only to find that her legs had gone completely numb. "I think my hips dislocated from all those adrenaline rush."

"Seems that way." Zero giggled to herself and set the scientist at the wall, leaning her body against the concrete surface. She then sat beside the scientist, crossing her legs and leaning back against the wall as well.

"Say, Zero..." Ciel muttered, gaining a curious acknowledgement from the reploid. "Were you always...like this?"

"Hmm..." The reploid thought for a moment. "To be honest, I don't remember a single thing from before I wake up."

"Eh?"

"It's true." Zero smiled, though it came out more melancholy than she had wanted. "I don't even remember my own name, let alone knowing if I'm _the _Zero you've been searching for."

"Could it be..." Ciel was unsure of what to actually say. "Hibernation sickness?"

"I can only hope for that." Zero glanced up at the ceiling, an expression of melancholy flashed past her face. "Somehow my head hurts every time I try to remember something."

"I'm sorry..." Ciel averted her eyes to the floor sadly. "I'm sorry to force you awake."

"It's fine." Zero grinned, all the tension around her dispelling. "At least I have a reason now to find out why was I put to sleep."

"Zero..."

"Well, I guess it's about time." Zero stood up from the wall, dusting her own hips. "Can you stand?" She held a hand out for Ciel.

"I think I can." Ciel held onto the hand and pulled herself to her feet. "Thank you." She looked up at the long passageway as realisation dawned on her. Familiar-looking computers. "Is this what I think it is?"

"What do you think it is?" Zero asked, following the scientist's field of vision.

"This place seems to be a pre-historical laboratory." Ciel stared sadly at the machines, as if listening to their cries of histories. "It was abandoned in a hurry, as if everyone was trying to run away from something."

"If this is a lab as you said, shouldn't they have a Trans Server nearby?" Zero voiced out her thought. "We can use it to send you back."

"You're right." Ciel continued down the passageway, looking for a door where it could lead to a transport machine. "Let's pray that we can find one."

* * *

It was not long before the two reached another dead end, where the ceiling had caved in all the way to the ground. Ciel stared at the pile of rubble before her in disbelief as Zero shrugged nonchalantly.

"This...This is..." The young scientist tried to form the correct word. "This is just great!" She turned back, arms crossed on her chest and cheeks puffed out in a pout. "The passageway caved in."

"You don't say." Zero chuckled softly, earning a glare from the younger girl. "Come on, let's find another way." She turned around when her internal system alarm went off. Realisation hit her as she spun around, igniting her dash booster towards Ciel. "Ciel! Get back!" However, she was a step too late. A large fist exploded out from the debris, throwing both the scientist and the reploid back to the ground.

"Ciel!" Zero flipped herself back up to see the fist unclench itself and wrap its fingers around the scientist into a tight grip, pulling her back into the newly created hole through the debris. "Damn it!" The reploid dived through the hole into a roll and stood back up, facing a mechanicaloid which was at least several times her own size. Focusing her eyes, Zero could see Ciel squirming desperately within the grip of the monster of a machine.

"That is huge..." Zero muttered to herself as she dislodged her buster shotgun from its holster. "Alright you big and ugly! Let her go." The reploid aimed the weapon at the mechanicaloid and fired several shot, all of which bounced off the thick armour plating of the machine's chest and arms.

"Z-Zero!" Ciel struggled vigorously, hoping to at least break free from her imprisonment. "Zero, run! You can't fight this with only a buster!"

"Somehow that made me want to prove you wrong." The female ignored Ciel's cries as she dashed towards the menacing machine in a randomised manner, jumping and kicking off the walls to gain height advantage.

"Zero..." Ciel almost squeak and ducked her head as some of the shot landed on the armour platings not more than a foot away from her head.

Zero repeatedly avoided the attacks from the mechanicaloid, albeit barely. Stopping for a short break, the female reploid immediately backflipped as the human-sized hand swiped past the space where she stood moments ago. Completing the manoeuvre, Zero brought her weapon up and aim, firing off a shot which hit the head of the behemoth. Unexpectedly, the hit had caused the said behemoth to flinch slightly.

"Gotcha'." Zero smirked as she tumbled out of the way from the heavy beam emitted from the mouth of the mechanicaloid. With the weakness of the monster discovered, Zero began to concentrate her shots at the head. However, the female reploid was not the only one to learn from it. The mechanicaloid, too began to deflect the shot with its arms, some of the shots narrowly missing the scientist's head by inches.

A grave mistake was made when Zero was blindsided by one of the beam hit, which threw the female reploid to the wall, which in turn exploded a small imprint of her own body. Without waiting for Zero to recover or even fall from the smokescreen dust, the free hand of the mechanicaloid slammed harshly onto its prey, trapping her in a deathly grip.

"Zero!" Ciel screamed out her name, fearing for the well-being of the reploid. The dust soon cleared to reveal Zero gripping onto the hand, using her back as support to prevent the pressure from crushing her. Several warning signals began popping out in her visual display, indicating places where damages were accumulating on her body.

"Ugh...ugh..." With the space gap in between the large palm and her torso, Zero was able to place a sole under the heel of the palm and kicked upwards, redirecting the force up to the wall just above her head with the aid of her dash booster. "This is getting annoying." She grumbled as she dropped onto the ground, flipping to the side and narrowly dodging the slam from the same hand which had tried to crush her.

"Zero_**[Rei]**_..." Every thing around the reploid seemed to stop, including the mechanicaloid and Ciel were frozen in time. The scene had turned into a shade of grey. "Zero_**[Rei]**_..."

"Wha-?! Who's there?!" Zero glanced around, her senses in their peak to seek out the potential threat. "Where are you? Show yourself!"

"Behind you...silly..." The soft voice was laced with amusement. Zero spun around to face a large computer screen, lit in eerie green and displaying a face of a younger girl, not older than Zero herself. "It has been..._**ZZZ**_...a while..."

"Who...Who are you?" Zero asked, which came out more demanding than she had intended. "What happened?"

"Relax, Zero. We're currently in..._**ZZZ**_...this laboratory's cyberspace, in which its..._**ZZZ**_...time frame is different from the outside world." Statics were peppering the display of the girl. "One second in the..._**ZZZ**_...outside world equates to one hour in here."

"Well, that didn't answer my question as to who you are." Zero frowned as she crossed her arms, glaring at the screen.

"We'll save the introduction for the next time we meet." The girl chuckled softly in amusement, before her expression went serious. "Now I have a question for you, Zero. Do you want to save her?"

"What?" The female dropped her scowl, casting a questioning look at the girl in the screen. "What do you mean?"

"Do you want to save the girl?" The girl in the screen gestured to Ciel. "The young scientist..._**ZZZ**_...named Ciel."

"Why are you asking this?" Zero questioned, resisting the urge to pound the console before herself. "What game are you playing?"

"We don't have much time..._**ZZZ**_...left." The girl pointed out. "Do you, want to save the girl?"

"Of course!" The reploid clenched her fists, glaring harder at the screen. "I don't know what you have in mind, but I will save her."

"The answer I've..._**ZZZ**_...always wanted to hear." A click was heard as part of the terminals underneath the screen popped open, revealing a small cylinder with oval bases resting in it. "It's yours..._**ZZZ**_...don't waste time..._**ZZZ**_..."

Zero gripped the cylinder, which turned out to be a hilt of some kind of weapon. Is was as if the grip was specifically carved and designed to fit perfectly in her left hand. "This is..."

"Save her..._**ZZZ**_...Zero_**[Rei]**_..." Static began to fill the screen before blacking out. The reploid's surround regained its colour slowly as time began to move again.

Zero turned to see the large hand charging at her from the side. Hopping onto the terminal and kicking off the metal, she flipped over the hand with unparalleled grace. Her form blurring in mid-air, Zero twirled her body as the hilt in her hand ignited a slightly curved beam blade from the holed end, cutting deeply into the formerly indestructible armour platings of the mechanicaloid.

All that Ciel could see was a blur of neon green, crimson and gold as chunks of metal fell onto the ground. The mechanicaloid had already began shooting at the blur in rapid succession, only to have the beams dodged, some deflected away.

As for Zero, the wave of familiarity had washed over her and stayed. The reploid somehow knew how to fight with the newly-obtained weapon. It was as if the she was programmed solely for that kind of battle, and that weapon was built solely for her left hand to utilise its full potential.

Several more swipes of the weapon, the mechanicaloid's right arm was left with nothing more than a sizzling stump. Zero used the opportunity as the monster of a machine was stunned to dash up to the arm that was holding Ciel. With a clean cut at the elbow joint, the reploid sliced off the arm like a hot knife through butter, dropping the displaced arm onto the ground with a rumbling _thump_.

"Ciel!" Zero grabbed the arm and shifted the heavy item away from the area of the fight. "Ciel, are you alright in there?"

"I...I think so." A meek voice sounded from within the large fingers.

"I'll be back soon, hang on in there!" Zero turned to the mechanicaloid which was already approaching them, a ball of concentrated energy hovering in front of its face, ready to be fired off at the reploid. "Oh no you don't!" Zero ignited her dash booster and kicked off the ground, leaping almost to the same height of the mechanicaloid. Stepping onto the behemoth's chest as a platform, the reploid kicked off again and jumped above its head, dropping back down with a stab into the crown.

"Oh...uh..." Zero mumbled as she saw that sparks began to crackle within the mechanicaloid's head. "Maybe I shouldn't have done that." She barely had time to pull out her weapon before an explosion took place, enveloping the mechanicaloid along with her.

The explosion within the confined room shook the entire area. Ciel could only squeak in shock as fragments hit the hand that was trapping, and conveniently, protecting her. A heavy _thud_ beside her head caught the scientist's attention as she turn her head to see a familiar colour of red and black. It took her moments to realise that it belonged to the reploid whom had saved her from the mechanicaloid.

"Zero?" Ciel called out, trying to wake the reploid in case she was knocked out. "Zero!"

"Ow..." The groan was accompanied by whining sound of hydraulics whirring into life. "I really, _really_ shouldn't have done that." Zero slowly pushed herself off the ground, facing Ciel who was just beside her. "Are you alright, Ciel?"

"I could ask the same of you." The scientist threw back the reply. "Please get me out of this. It's getting a little constricting in here."

"Fine, fine." Zero chuckled and moved over, slowly flipped the over-sized hand over and forced open the fingers one by one, so as not to potentially injure the scientist trapped within. "Here..." She offered a hand to the scientist.

"Thank you..." Ciel awkwardly took the hand and pulled herself from the temporary constriction. "Zero! Your armour!" She pointed at the scotched mark on Zero's breastplate, one of the edges melting slightly.

"Ah, this?" Zero grinned sheepishly. "It's fine, I'll do something about it." She then turned to the door which was previously blocked by the mechanicaloid. "Let's go. We won't want to keep your friends waiting, do we?"

Ciel tilted her head slightly at the sudden change of topics. "You're right." She quietly followed the reploid past the door. "And my suspicion was spot on. You actually destroyed a Golem."

"Well..." Zero scratched the back of her helmet with a sheepish smile. "Everything just came naturally. Oh, here's a Trans server." She gestured at the machine sitting at the centre of the room.

"Allow me." Ciel stepped into the middle of the machine, wasting no time in typing codes at the circular panel which rose to her waist-height.

Sensing that no more enemy would enter the room, Zero closed her eyes. Soon, her helmet de-materalised digitally, letting her long golden hair flow freely. It was shortly followed by her breastplate, the pair of vambraces, and finally the pair of greaves. With her armour out of sight, the female reploid looked no more than an average young woman, save for the two white sharp eclipses remaining on either side of her head which seemed to be welded to the place where her ears were supposed to be.

The disarmament of the reploid had stopped Ciel from typing on the panel, who was now staring at Zero with an awestruck expression.

"Is there something on me that you like seeing?" Ciel snapped from her daze, facing up to see Zero smiling at her teasingly.

"N-Nothing!" The scientist quickly turned back to the control panel, hiding the flush on her cheeks that matched the bright pink colour of her own helmet. "J-Just wait for a few more moments. I'll get us back in no time."

"Wait, us?" Zero's smirking face took a full turn as she backed away from the Trans Server. "Waitwaitwait...I didn't say anything about going with you." The reploid waved her hands in front of herself. "I'm not good with a lot of people in one place."

"You're not going anywhere." Ciel somehow slipped under the control panel and caught up with Zero, grabbing her by the back of the white metal eclipse piece on the left side of her head before the reploid could even turn to run.

"Ow!" Zero tried to protest, but was soon forcefully steered towards the transporting machine. "Owowow! Wait, that's my ear! Ciel, you're pulling my ear off!"

"So these really _are_ your ears." A small smirk grew on Ciel's lips. "I've been wondering what those are."

Zero gulped quietly as she and the scientist soon reached the inside of the Trans Server, where Ciel painfully pulled her ear downwards, forcing her to sit on the machine in a seiza(kneeling) manner.

"Sit here, don't move." Ciel ordered as she went back to typing.

"Hey, I'm not some pup-" A sharp glare from the scientist silenced her immediately. "Shutting up..."

Some awkward quiet moments passed between the two before Ciel finally finished her typing. "Alright." She turned to the pouting reploid beside her, smiling sweetly. "Let's go back to the base." She barely completed her sentence as their surrounding faded into blinding white.

* * *

_Resistance base_

The Trans Server came to life. Several reploids in green resistance uniforms lit up with joy as white figures began to form. "They are back!" One of the reploids shouted, followed by cheering from the rest of the group. As the figures took shape, the soldiers began to quieten down, after noticing an unfamiliar shape behind the familiar one.

"Enemy?" Another reploid said. The others quickly levelled their weapons at the shorter figure.

The figures slowly faded into existence, revealing Ciel and the shorter figure, which was actually a young woman kneeling on the platform. Seeing dozens of rifle nozzles pointed at her direction, the young woman slowly raised both of her hands into the air in a mildly shocked and confused manner.

"Stand down, everyone." Ciel ordered, but not before letting off a quiet chuckle. "She's a friendly."

"But...Ciel!" The foremost soldier with a relatively large rifle in his hands spoke up. "Where're the rest?"

"They won't be coming back." Ciel muttered before steeling herself. "But don't worry, Colbor." Ciel assured with a calm smile. She then turned to Zero who was still having her hands raised. "And you Zero, put down your hands already. They aren't going to shoot you."

"Ze-Zero?!" The soldiers surrounding them gasped, all lowering their weapons with mutters of apologies. They then hurriedly exited the room, allowing space for the newly arrived.

"That's some welcoming greetings." Zero lowered her hands and stood up. "So, what's this place?" She looked around, surveying the interior of the room she arrived at.

"Forgive them, they're a little jumpy after some events." Ciel smiled a little and took a couple of steps in front of Zero, turning around to face the reploid. "Welcome to our Resistance base, Zero." She hopped off the Trans Server and walked towards the door, beckoning at Zero to follow. The female reploid obliged, at the same time intrigued with the different settings of the building interior.

Seeing this, the scientist continued with the introduction. "This is a place, a shelter, for the injured reploid. All of them were suspected for being mavericks."

"Mavericks?" Zero raised one of her eyebrows in curiosity, her attention now fully on the topic. "Aren't those reploids labelled as the enemies of humanity?"

"Yes." Ciel nodded with a grim expression, as she had to agree with the statement. "But sadly, that was not the case for the past years."

"Meaning...?"

"It used to be only the reploids who exhibit aggressive behaviour be labelled as mavericks." Ciel continued solemnly. "But now even suspected innocent reploids would be marked as one and dealt with accordingly."

"Now that's unfair!" Zero frowned at the situation. "What gives them the right to do that?"

"I don't know, Zero. We're already having a hard time fighting just to survive." Ciel pressed a button on the wall, beside a elevator door. "I don't know if we can even handle it any more. We're slowly, but surely, losing hope."

"It must be real hard for you guys." Zero entered the elevator after Ciel.

"I hate to admit it." The scientist pressed another button, allowing the door to close and the elevator to rise. "But after all these times, the inevitable end is already waiting for us."

"No way..."

"We've been looking for you for the past year." A soft jerk of the lift signalled their arrival of the next floor, followed by the door opening. "Most of us think that you, _Zero_, are nothing more than a myth. A fantasy." Ciel continued leading the way, with the female reploid behind her. "However, we persevered. We kept looking for you, refusing to give up." She stopped at one of the doors, turning back to Zero with a serious, pleading expression. "You are our hope, Zero. Our last hope of survival."

"But...but..." There was a flash, and then it was gone. Zero blinked and shook her head. She must be imagining things. The female reploid faced Ciel, albeit apologetically. "I'm just some reploid you found. Maybe some old junk throwaway that no one wants anymore. I don't even remember my own name." She glanced at the floor solemnly. "I can't be the legend you're finding."

"Zero." Ciel reached over and clasped onto one of Zero's hand, pulling it up to her own chest. "You _are_ the Zero, the one and only legendary reploid who saved the world a century ago. The one and only reploid who saved me when I was in danger. The one who I not only can talk to as a friend, but also look up to as a sister."

"Si-..." Strange. Did the temperature of her internal systems just spike?

"Please, believe in yourself." Ciel stared intently at Zero in the eyes. "Even if you don't, at least believe in me."

"R-Right." Zero was forcing herself from stuttering, and failing. "Thanks...Ciel..."

The young scientist smiled at the reply and turned to face the door, one hand still holding onto Zero's. "Also, it's known that you've fought alongside with X, who is both another of the legendary reploid, and also your partner." She opened the door with a couple of punching onto the electronic pad right at the side, pulling the reploid along as she entered the room.

"X? His name does sound familiar." Zero let herself be led without much of a resistance. "Is he still around?"

"_She_ is still alive, Zero." Ciel's voice was quiet again after the emphasis. "And she's trying to retire all of us, namely the reploids."

"Hold on a second there." Zero's eyes were wide as the words echoed in her processing memory banks. "X is a she, a girl. And _she_ is trying to retire all of the reploids?"

This prompted a nod from Ciel. "Her plan has already gone through many phases." A hard expression laced into the scientist's feature. "Countless innocents are still being retired as we're speaking."

"Is there a way we can stop it?"

"Not until now." Ciel gestured to Zero. "You. We need your help to stop this."

"But..."

"Please, help us, Zero." The scientist pleaded. "Our future depends on you."

Zero stared at the younger girl before her, uncertainty plastered on her expression. "Ciel..." The reploid muttered, before closing her eyes with a sigh.

"Alright..." Her eyes were determined when she reopened them, focusing on Ciel. "I'll lend my assistance to you."

* * *

_**Next time:**_

"From the footage I've seen, when Ciel was saved by you, we have come to believe that your combat capability is...limitless."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

And here's chapter two. I hope you readers enjoyed it.

And I also have to thank those to followed and reviewed on this upcoming story I left almost dead years ago. Plus the readers who somehow gave this a light nudge. I will try to update monthly, if my life is not being too busy at the moment. And when I do, look forward to it.

To Lei(guest): This has already been in my mind since I restarted this fanfic. But a reminder is always a welcome. Thank you. Just a little tweak at the characteristics to fit the gender and the role of being fighters, giving them more life than just machines. It is something I'm still trying to make do as much and as good as possible.

**Ret-Fool out!**


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